‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ is nothing to go wild over

‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ feels like just another cog in Hollywood’s ever-churning sequel machine.

Wes Ball’s first venture into the “Apes” universe, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” swings onto the screen with a fresh coat of CGI paint and the same old ape-human conflict. Set “many generations later” after the events of “War for the Planet of the Apes,” the film introduces us to a world where apes reign supreme, divided into tribes ranging from noble to nefarious. And humans? Societal collapse after a virus turned their brains to mush, killing most of the population and leaving the rest unable to communicate.

Our protagonist, Noa (brought to life through motion capture by Owen Teague), is a young chimp on the cusp of leadership within his peaceful clan. However, tragedy strikes when his tranquil village, a simian Shangri-La, falls victim to a marauding masked clan led by the sinister Proximus (played with villainous gusto by Kevin Durand). Noa survives and escapes, but he loses his father, Koro (Neil Sandilands), the leader of his clan and the Master of Birds. The rest, including his mom, are captured. Now, Noa must avenge.

Noa (Owen Teague), Mae (Freya Allan) and Raka (Peter Macon) in a scene from “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.” (20th Century Studios) — *Noa (Owen Teague), Mae (Freya Allan)*, *and Raka (Peter Macon) in a scene from “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.” (20th Century Studios)*

Soon enough, Noa crosses paths with Mae (Freya Allan, “The Witcher”), a feral but strikingly beautiful human girl, and a sage—and a little bit saucy—orangutan, Raka, played by Peter Macon (“Shameless”), injecting some much-needed charisma and energy into the film. Raka steals the show, from doling out wisdom like Obi-Wan with a sense of humor to his awe at encountering a zebra for the first time. “Horses with stripes are quite striking!” Raka leaves a void when he is not on screen. Every other character, especially the humans, is flat in comparison. William H. Macy’s presence feels particularly baffling.

Mae, Noa, and Raka, each with their own agenda, eventually align to rescue Noa’s captured family and confront Proximus, who misguidedly thinks his actions are in line with the beliefs of the great Caesar (played by Andy Serkis in the previous films). One big thing he ignores is the whole “ape not kill ape” dictum. Like some of our present-day leaders, Proximus also has no idea what it means to rule with decency, morality, strength, compassion, Caesar’s other tenets. Like the previous “Apes” movies, “Kingdom” is a mirror for our own societal divisions.

For 145 minutes, the longest in the “Apes” universe, “Kingdom” does not throw anything new at us. It’s all computer-generated spectacle over substantive storytelling. Ultimately, the plot is simple. It’s a quest movie; along the way, self-revelations will occur, and characters will learn lessons. Noa searches for his captured family. Mae’s motivations are slower to reveal. Raka, the last of the true believers, has the gospel of Caesar to spread, an idealogy that both sides bend to their will and one that Noa never knew existed but instinctively follows whenever he utters “together strong” to his friends, Anaya (Travis Jeffery) and Soona (Lydia Peckham).

The subtext in Josh Friedman’s (“War of the Worlds”) script isn’t that subtle. More broadly, the narrative is populated with a bunch of pointless franchise fodder and story beats that ape (pun intended) so much of the other IP that Hollywood is leaning into these days. Ball doesn’t offer much in the way of originality. At this point, if you’ve seen one Marvel, “Star Wars,” “Dune,” or even Ball’s “Maze Runner” trilogy, then you’ve seen them all. As the saying goes, monkey see, monkey do.